


See You on the Other Side

by LigerCat



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Ambiguous Slash, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Attempted Murder, Demons, Gen, Ghosts, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mentions of Suicide, Ouija, Possibly Slash, Protective Siblings, Summoning, Tragedy, probably not as dark as the tags make it sound?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:55:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27186203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LigerCat/pseuds/LigerCat
Summary: The plan may have been foolish but it was the only he had left.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	See You on the Other Side

His hands shook as he unboxed the board. He couldn't tell if it was nerves or grief. All ready doubts with feeling his mind, but he'd tried everything else. If a less--or more depending on how you looked at it--conventional approach was needed, that's what he'd try.

Ferb reached for the other item he'd brought. He hadn't been much of a drinker, but the last seven months had changed that. Taking a shot straight from the bottle, he waited for it to finish burning his throat and hoped for it to steady him. Or to dim his inhibitions enough to make him think this was a good idea.

It still felt like a bad idea.

He took another drink. He'd down the whole bottle if that's what it took.

It never worked out well in movies, but this wasn't a movie. That should give him a slim chance of success.

Blinking back the tears that begged to fall, he placed planchette on the board. His fingers found the proper places but hesitated to move it to 'hello.'

Ferb believed fully in the supernatural. In vampires and werewolves and ghosts and everything else. There was no doubt in his mind that if he went through with this something would show up.

He squared his shoulders. It would be him. He moved the planchette.

"Phineas?" It was the first time he'd spoken the name in seven months. The first time he'd been able to bring himself to. The last time he'd said it, he'd been screaming it, trying to wrap his horrified mind around the fact that his brother had been standing in front of him one moment and gone the next.

He risked removing a hand to take a swig to shove the memory back to where it'd emerged from. At this rate, the bottle would be empty sooner than later. With any luck, no one would come barging into the basement. He didn't want to try to explain this while he had a buzz. Or perhaps that would make the situation more understandable.

"Phineas, are you there?" Nothing happened. "Please," his voice cracked on the word.

The planchette slid under his fingers, resting on the 'yes.' Ferb stared.

Everything had been driving him to find a way to contact Phineas, to talk to him, see him, anything. It had been his obsession. It overruled every other thing in his life. A part of himself had been buried with his brother and what had been left wasn't enough.

But now that it had happened, that Phineas was here, he felt lost. He hadn't planned this far. The words were unformed and jumbled.

But when had they ever needed words? (He promptly ignored the little voice that threw Bulgarian folk dancing at him.) Instead of trying to form them, he let every fear, all the sadness, the grief, the apologies, and the longing fill his eyes.

A chill brushed across his shoulder, sending up goosebumps as it traveled down his arm. It seemed to stop at his hand, only slightly warmer than if he'd dunked it in ice water.

" _It wasn't your fault._ " The words were a whisper that floated past his ear and echoed in his head. " _It's wonderful on this side. I almost wish you were here with me, bro._ "

Ferb eyes closed as he let the familiar voice wash over him.

" _I wish we were together._ "

"I do too." They were supposed to be together. It wasn't supposed to end so soon. It wasn't supposed to end the way it did.

A second chill settled on his neck. A cold breath of air brushed his cheek. " _Who says we can't be?_ "

Ferb's brow furrowed very so slightly.

" _You know what I mean._ " The breath sent strains of his lately neglected hair swaying and touching his skin. " _There's so much more to do. And time's different here, we could have endless summer days._ " A frozen finger traced his neck. " _It wouldn't take much to be together again._ "

The voice, the barely controlled excitement, the infection, it was all Phineas, albeit with a ghostly, otherworldliness to it. But the meaning, what he was asking... it wasn't him. Phineas wouldn't ask that of him.

A sliver of doubt crept in. Would he?

No, no, he wouldn't. _Phineas_ would be giving him some sort of speech about how great it was over there. He'd tell him to live. Or give him some idea to stay in contact through the veil. Or something else that only his wondrous imagination could conceive.

Ferb's eyes snapped open. "You're not Phineas." As soon as the words left his mouth, he realised his mistake.

Some part of him had registered that throughout their conversation, the touch had become more solid against his skin, but now the frozen hand that clamped around his throat felt very tangible. He was shoved back, the air knocked from his lungs as a weight followed to land on his chest.

The being was not Phineas. Not even a ghost. Reptilian features glared at him.

He kicked up his legs, trying to dislodge it. He swung at its face only to have his wrists seized. His abdomen was growing cold, numb. He gasped, breath struggling past the pressure on his airways.

" _Don't you want to join me, bro?_ " The voice was no longer Phineas'.

The numbness was slipping down his thighs, building up in his chest.

The being smiled, showing off human-like teeth. " _Don't worry. You'll like it on the other side._ "

Ferb's vision was dimming. The thoughts swirling though his head were chastising him. He'd seen plenty of horror movies. He should have known this was how it was going to end.

"Leave my brother alone, you freak!"

The being's head snapped up just in time to be smacked with the business end of a boom.

The pressure vanished. Ferb blinked, black spots dancing in his eyes. He was dying. This was some weird dream he was having as he died. Either that or candace actually was beating up some supernatural creature with a boom like it was bo staff.

Where'd she learn to use a bo staff...?

* * *

He was somewhere soft. Was this death? If this was it, it didn't seem all that horrible. Ferb's eyelids flickered before opening.

And he wasn't dead. Unless the afterlife looked like his old bedroom.

"What were you thinking?"

And unless Candace was dead too. He rolled his head to the side. There were some odd colored stains on her shirt. If what he saw did happen, he could guess the origin.

He licked his lips. They felt chilled and dry. "That it might work." He didn't need to say more. She was perfectly aware of what he'd been up to. "Why did you come?"

Something flashed across her face, but he was too worn to catch it. "I thought--" Candace stopped, giving her head a shake. "I thought I was really going crazy, but I could've sworn I heard Phineas telling me you needed help." She gave him a wry smile. "After what I saw in the basement, it doesn't seem that insane."

His feelings fractured. All he wanted was contact with Phineas, and he went to Candace instead? The jealousy wared with the warmth that Phineas had done it to help him.

He raised a hand to his head but paused as he caught sight of the pale, bleached look of his skin. The chill that had settled into his bones seemed to seep back out, sending shivers through his body. He flexed his fingers, an unnatural stiffness making the moments jerky. The odd temptation to place his hand over his heart to ensure it hadn't frozen mid-beat seized him, but the fear that it would turn out to be true kept him from following through.

"Ferb?" Candace touched his shoulder, the heat coming from her felt like a furnace.

Prying his eyes from his hand, he blinked up at her as she squeezed his shoulder. He understood. Whatever he had done, she'd help him fix it.

And if not, perhaps he'd be joining Phineas a little sooner than his brother would like.

**Author's Note:**

> So this fic went in a completely different direction than the original planning. Mainly because Candace barged in, screeching like a banshee and banishing a broom and demanding that I _not_ kill both her brothers in the same fic.


End file.
